The weather in the lead up to the summer and fruit set, saw below average rainfall though all of the Barossa Valley. This resulted in lower than expected crops and smaller bunch/berry sizing than normal. The weather in November was very hot and windy during fruit set and this caused the fruit to ‘shatter’, basically not form fully developed berries that die and fall out of the bunch. The outcome of this was that we experienced final yields 60% lower than a normal vintage from the Greenock Creek Estate vineyards. However there were some positives to come when the fruit began to be harvested.

Leading into vintage, the weather turned very mild for the rest of summer and the ripening season, meaning that vintage was delayed to what would be a more normal start date on the 26th of February. The warm days and cool nights were the near perfect conditions for ripening. The first grapes harvested was the Apricot Block Shiraz with the final harvest being Durif on the 27th of March from our trusted Grower; the Westlake vineyard.

From the first crush to the last, we were amazed at the vibrant colour intensity of the grape juice and the purity of the flavours. The skins of the grapes were thick from the mild weather, aiding in the colour intensity and allowing splashing if the ‘cap’ (skins) to extract silky natural tannins. The resultant wines have dark crimson/purple density to them, full and rich mid palate fruit weight and savoury, but silky tannins with great depth and length of flavour. It will be remembered as a challenging year with the weather and smaller crop levels, but the wine quality will be savoured for years to come as these brilliant wines evolve in both barrel and bottle.